Will Eli Survive?
You like it. You really like it. And you're hoping the bubble (aneurysm?) doesn't burst.
As messages pour in about the fate of ABC's fantastic new dramedy Eli Stone—which airs its season finale tomorrow night—it becomes clear how deeply this series has touched its fan base. And for good reason: This story about an impassioned lawyer with a brain aneurysm—who may or may not be a prophet—is one of the most inspiring TV newcomers we've seen in a long while.
So where do things stand as far as a pickup for season two for Eli? Well, I just checked in with executive producer Greg Berlanti, and he sends out this message to you fans: 
"Unfortunately we don't know anything. But I can tell you this: Marc Guggenheim and I—as well as the cast, crew and other writers—are insanely proud of the show. Like any show, there was a learning curve, and our best episodes are clearly the last four or five.
"We just hope anyone who wants the show to come back will let that be known to ABC. And thanks so much to you and to all the fans who have reached out. It's a great show, and it's been immensely rewarding to have put something so unique and, hopefully, inspiring on the air."
You know what that means, right? You gotta have faith. (Cue George Michael!) It also wouldn't hurt if you told your friends (especially those with Nielsen boxes) to tune in to Eli Stone tomorrow night and give the show some much deserved season-finale ratings love.
You can grab a sneak peek and catch up on what you've missed here. And please take a moment to holler at ABC by posting your support for Eli in the comments below…
Project Runway’s Nina Garcia Welcomes a Son
Project Runway judge Nina Garcia and her husband, David Conrod, welcomed their first child on Saturday: 7 lb., 6 oz. Lucas Alexander Conrod, Garcia’s rep tells PEOPLE exclusively.
Arriving at an unfashionably early hour (6:03 a.m.), Lucas made a great first impression on his parents nonetheless. Garcia and Conrod “are very excited to finally meet their new son,” her rep tells PEOPLE. “They are all doing great.”
Garcia, 41, is the fashion director of Elle magazine; Conrod is a senior managing director at Guggenheim Capital.
Confirming her pregnancy in October, Garcia told PEOPLE, “This baby must have some amazing fashion sense, waiting until empire waists and volume came back into fashion!”
Pediatricians unhappy with Eli Stone
Eli Stone, the new ABC legal drama, is already in trouble. This is interesting news since the first show hasn’t even premiered yet. The trouble is stemming from the American Academy of Pediatrics, who want the first episode of the series canceled because it feeds into the myth that vaccines can cause autism.
In the series premiere, which airs after Lost this Thursday, lawyer-turned-reluctant-prophet Eli Stone argues in court that a flu vaccine made a child autistic. Dr. Renee R. Jenkins, president of the AAP, said that both ABC and its parent company, Walt Disney, are being irresponsible by airing the show because it will be perpetuating the vaccine=autism belief. Dr. Jenkins added that the network would share in the responsibility for the suffering and deaths if parents who watched the program chose to deny their children immunizations. Dr. Jenkins also mentioned that many viewers trust the health information presented on fictional television shows.
Greg Berlanti, co-creator of Stone said that the show’s producers had no connection with advocates involved in the autism debate. Creator Marc Guggenheim added to this statement by saying that the first episode is more about the downside of the corporatization of America rather than a platform to debate the pros and cons of child immunizations.
If I can get on my soapbox for a moment, I feel Dr. Jenkins is so out of line here that the line is a dot to her. The doctor’s statements make us all seem like lemmings who take everything that appears on scripted television as rote. Come on! We may have short attention spans, but we’re a pretty smart group of people here, especially when it comes to the care of our children, and we can tell what’s real and what’s not.
In addition, it seems to me that she believes that the entire adult population of the United States will be watching the first episode of Eli Stone. I know that’s what Berlanti and Guggenheim probably wish, and I know Lost is a popular show, but his claims are a bit lofty. If Stone retains half of the Lost audience for its series premiere then it is doing a good job.
The Green Lantern Gets a Director
Yesterday we reported that David Dobkin (Fred Claus) had signed on to direct a big screen adaptation of The Flash comic book. Dobkin revealed that his film would be set in the same universe as the Justice League of America movie which is now being cast. This brought us to the conclusion that Warner Bros is hoping to quickly capitalize on the success of the superhero team-up film, with a new solo franchise. Well it now appears that The Flash is not the only film getting a fast track into production.
Greg Berlanti (The Broken Hearts Club) has signed on to direct a live-action big screen adaptation of The Green Lantern. Berlanti is penning the script with Marc Guggenheim and Michael Green. So what else has Berlanti done? He executive produced Dirty Sexy Money, Everwood, and Brothers & Sisters. But Warner Bros is saying “Who cares if his only experience is a $1 million indie romantic comedy, he could probably handle a big screen superhero film!” Are they on crack? I was a little miffed when David Dobkin announced his Flash plans yesterday, but at least he has a filmography. Sure they were comedies, but he can make a movie, if anything, I know that. But the Berlanti is very perplexing to me. Variety sheds some light on how Berlanti may have earned this gig:
“Guggenheim, who works with Berlanti as a writer-producer on Brothers & Sisters, wrote the Marvel comicbooks Amazing Spider-Man, Wolverine and Blade. Green, the “Heroes” co-exec producer who worked with Berlanti on Everwood and Jack & Bobby, wrote the Marvel Comics title Superman/Batman and was a writer-producer on Smallville.”
Networking (Who you know) trumps talent or experience in Hollywood. Apparently, Berlanti met with DC Comics senior vice president Gregory Noveck a year ago about bringing Green Lantern to the big screen.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not against Warner Bros making a Green Lantern film, or a Flash movie for that matter, I just want them to be done right. Because if a film like Daredevil teaches us anything, it is that a movie studio will only give a franchise one chance (Of course, The Incredible Hulk and The Fantastic Four might be the only exceptions).
The Hollywood Reporter has the following quote from Greg:
“To me, this was on the last great comic book movie that hasn’t been made,” said Berlanti, who grew up reading comics in the 1980s. “It was a comic book with a real mythology that you would see in a lot of the space operas and the sci-fi books. The best part about it, anybody can be become one of the Green Lanterns because anyone can end up with that ring.” “The danger and the fear from a lot of people is that it would be silly. In these post-’Harry Potter’ and ‘Lord of the Rings’ days, it’s not any more fantastical than that. It’s taken movies like that to make it feel as if a Green Lantern film is possible.”
With The Flash and The Green Lantern spin-off movies in the works, it makes me seriously wonder if Warner Bros will announce that the Bryan Singer’s Superman sequel, The Man of Steel, is no more. It seems to me that the studio sees more benefit in a Superman film, which is an offshoot of the Justice League movie.
The Green Lantern character was created by writer Bill Finger and artist Martin Nodell in All-American Comics #16, published in July 1940. The Green Lantern possesses a power ring that gives him control over the physical world as long as the wielder has sufficient willpower and strength to wield it.